October 26, 2012

Hogan Lovells Lobbying for Telecom Company on Spectrum Issue

Hogan Lovells has
revealed that former Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) is lobbying for a
controversial telecommunications company that filed for bankruptcy in May.

Coleman, a
Washington-based of counsel to Hogan, is helping LightSquared Inc. garner
support for its efforts to use federally regulated spectrum, according to a
lobbying registration report filed with Congress on Thursday. Backed by
billionaire Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners LLC, the Reston,
Va.-based company is attempting to launch a national open wireless broadband
network that has faced a backlash stemming from concerns about disruption to
Global Positioning System devices.

The Defense and
Transportation departments last year said testing on LightSquared signals
showed "harmful interference" with several GPS devices and disrupted
a flight safety system intended to alert pilots to changing terrain. The
company has disputed the findings.

LightSquared also has
faced criticism from congressional Republicans, including Senator Charles
Grassley of Iowa, who is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Grassley for months this year held up votes on Federal Communications
Commission nominees in an effort to acquire information on the agency's
decision last year to give LightSquared's network tentative approval.

In a bid to put worries
about its network to rest, LightSquared in September submitted to the FCC a
plan to launch a system that wouldn't use airwaves that drew GPS concerns.

LightSquared spent more
than $2.2 million on federal lobbying during the first three quarters of this
year, according to congressional records. The company used lobbyists from more
than a dozen firms, including Dickstein Shapiro; DLA Piper; Patton Boggs;
K&L Gates; and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

On behalf of Hogan,
Nixon Peabody also is lobbying on matters concerning LightSquared. Hogan paid
Nixon Peabody $90,000 this year to advocate for Harbinger on FCC and U.S.
broadband policy issues.